Photograph
by Her Blood Sings
Summary: A year after the war, Draco sits down and stares at the old photographs of his exgirlfriend. And he can’t help but wonder where she is now, until he fines her locked up in a cage visible to the eye. DG.
1. Cuz I'm Broken

Photograph

Rating: PG-13  
**Pairing(s): **D/G  
**Summary: **A year after the war, Draco sits down and stares at the old photographs of his ex-girlfriend. And he can't help but wonder where she is now, until he fines her locked up in a cage visible to the eye.  
**Disclaimer:** All belongs to Jo, 'cept for the plot and any unfamiliar characters, places, and creatures. No profit is being made off of this story.  
**Author's Notes:** This fic was inspired by the song "Broken", sung by Seether and Amy Lee.  
**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP

He settles his lips between her jaw and her collarbone. A soft moan escapes from her mouth.  
He understands what this means. He understands the butterflies in the stomach. He knows the anguish and ecstasy of the feeling …of love.  
Wrapping her slender arms around his neck, patting his smooth back with her fingertips, she settles herself into his shoulder. She cannot escape this sinful action. This painful regret. This aching feeling burning inside like hellfire. She understands what it's like to feel numb. She knows what its like to wake up in the morning and realize that you have a stranger resting on your chest, listening to your heartbeat.  
She knows what it's like to lose something. She knows how it feels to see that lonely photograph, 24/7 and no other image of her, but that. She understands what it's like to find her again, caged in a cell, her eyes bloodshot and lips cracked, bleeding. So weak, that she can hardly lift her head.

Sunlight broke through the sheer curtains, casting a red reflection onto the room. He slept silently on, caressing the pillow to his head. His calm breathing, relaxed and refreshed. Suddenly, his eyes awoke with a start; his heart thumped and a sick feeling came to his stomach. His throat felt tight and he struggled to breath.

Draco Malfoy sprung out of the four poster bed and rushed around the room, trying to find something of some sort. And the one thing he was searching for had been lying on top of his school trunk that he had not bothered to empty. In fact, the last time he had opened it was almost a whole year ago.

Draco shakily reached for it and stared back at the moving photograph. A thin girl, no more than the age of sixteen with fiery auburn hair and sinful brown eyes was being held in the arms of himself. She was smiling back, almost devilishly, but yet, sweet and innocently. He, of course was just smirking back like his own, usual self.

He was obsessed with the photo, like how Colin Creevey was obsessed with his fandom for Harry Potter, but far much worse than that. Every evening, before he lay down to rest in his bed, he'd put the photograph safely on top of his trunk, like it was a guardian protecting ground or something. Then, every morning when he'd wake and first light would hit his room, he'd _have_ to find it and stare at it for hours, or it felt like he wouldn't be able to breath at all.

He still could not believe that he had fallen in love with a Weasley. Not necessarily fallen in love, because he did not know what that meant. He had to be taught. And the only one who was willing enough to try and show him heaven was her.

Ginevra Weasley.

Draco didn't want to try at first. He had just been using Weasley as a one night stand kind of girl. But she had made him weak. She had taken over his self-control. She had used _him_.

"I don't know what it's like to be loved. I never have been." She spoke these words so softly and haunting to him. Draco bit his lip. The temptation to give into this little, innocent thing was so tough, no matter how much of a Slytherin he was. He didn't know why, but it hurt. Maybe it was the beauty of her facial expressions towards him with her long, wavy hair falling over her shoulders. Maybe it was the beauty of her body that made him want something inside. Maybe his bad side had gone on vacation and his good side was finally kicking in, first coughing from the dust around him though.

He didn't understand what was quaking inside of him. He didn't understand how she could have never been loved. I mean, she was the one who had all the guys on her, Draco thought.

"Why me?" he asked, confused. "Why the bad boy of Slytherin? Why me over Potter or Thomas? What do you see inside of me that makes you believe that I can learn something that I was raised not to know or be familiar of?"

They were sitting on the floor of his bedroom at Hogwarts. He was head boy, of course at that time, but Ginny had somehow snuck into it. How she ever received the password, he did not know that either. The room was dimly lit; a few lanterns attached to the walls were still aglow, casting a shadow upon the wall of Ginny, Draco, and his bed. Ginny leaned against it and just stared angelically at Draco.

"…Because," she said, finally breaking the awkward silence, "I am different, Draco Malfoy. I don't follow, I turn the other way. I've had my run with Harry _and_ Dean. I want to change my ways. I want to stand out of the ordinary…"

"Isn't that Lovegood's job?" Draco interrupted. Ginny gave him a look, but she knew that Draco knew what she meant.

"Draco, do you want to learn or not?" she asked, impatiently. Draco suddenly realized something. Even though she _was_ a Weasley, he could completely have control over her. Like a seduction. But Ginny too smart for that, she would expect that that was Draco's idea.

His only response was, "Only if you promise that I'll still be me. Draco Malfoy."

She smiled and said, "I promise."

An owl swooped down onto the kitchen counter top where Draco was eating a bowl of porridge. It was Maroe, his eagle owl. He stuck out his leg for his master to take a tiny roll of parchment from him. Draco did this and gave Maroe a nibble from his biscuit. Then he set off across the room to a perch on the hearth next to the kitchen fireplace.

Draco stared at the roll of parchment for quite a bit. He was hesitant about opening it, but eventually untied the thread holding it together and unrolled the small piece of paper. A slight breeze slipped through the open window, making Maroe's feather tuft up a little and chill Draco's skin. The note read:

_Draco, I set you free by teaching you to love. Now set me free by finding me on the seaman's shores._

He let the note flutter to the ground. His breaths became heavy. He needed to get that photograph on top of his trunk in his bedroom upstairs. He knew who it was that had written. He just couldn't believe it. And he didn't even know where to turn once he reached the end of the winding driveway. Where was she? Draco had to find out.


	2. When I'm Lonesome

Photograph

Rating: PG-13  
**Pairing(s): **D/G  
**Summary: **A year after the war, Draco sits down and stares at the old photographs of his ex-girlfriend. And he can't help but wonder where she is now, until he fines her locked up in a cage visible to the eye.  
**Disclaimer:** All belongs to Jo, 'cept for the plot and any unfamiliar characters, places, and creatures. No profit is being made off of this story.  
**Author's Notes:** This fic was inspired by the song "Broken", sung by Seether and Amy Lee.  
**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP

He settles his lips between her jaw and her collarbone. A soft moan escapes from her mouth.  
He understands what this means. He understands the butterflies in the stomach. He knows the anguish and ecstasy of the feeling …of love.  
Wrapping her slender arms around his neck, patting his smooth back with her fingertips, she settles herself into his shoulder. She cannot escape this sinful action. This painful regret. This aching feeling burning inside like hellfire. She understands what it's like to feel numb. She knows what its like to wake up in the morning and realize that you have a stranger resting on your chest, listening to your heartbeat.  
She knows what it's like to lose something. She knows how it feels to see that lonely photograph, 24/7 and no other image of her, but that. She understands what it's like to find her again, caged in a cell, her eyes bloodshot and lips cracked, bleeding. So weak, that she can hardly lift her head.

- - - - - - - - -

Putting Maroe into his cage, walking out of the manor whiling locking it behind him, and sticking his key into the ignition of his black car, he backed out of the driveway and headed down the long, dusty road to the shores of the ocean. He believed that that was where the note was leading him to.

The sun had barely risen over the treetops by the time he had come to a turn onto another road and into a forest. He was glad too. Draco now enjoy the daylight and loved when days seemed long, but yet he loved when it rained. It was this feeling inside of him skin that made him fear dark now, and cherish light like a precious, fragile baby or an almighty god.

It was almost summer's end and the leaves on the maple and oak trees were beginning to turn orange and brown. Such a shame, Draco thought, though he particularly enjoyed the fall more than summer for he hated intense heat.

An hour had passed and finally he had come to a little town on the ocean's shores. It was a pretty vast town for how small it was. Boats chartered in and out of the harbor, shipping boats full or cargo and exports, others with just vacancies for cruises and tourists. Draco did not prefer this town. Too many muggles roamed there, but truly the people who lived here were so secretive that it was hard to tell whether they _were_ muggle or wizard.

Draco parked his car next to a deserted brick building with a huge vent poking out of the side of it. It read in white paint "Schumann's Shoe Factory". All the windows were boarded up and the doors were gone so if you looked inside of it all you could see was pitch black. Draco didn't want to act too suspicious though, so though he never thought he would ever in the world do so… he tried his hardest to blend in with the muggles so they wouldn't give him an eye of discomfort and suspicion.

"Seaman's shores. Seaman's shores. Hmm…" Draco whispered as he searched the streets for signs of anything that would lead him to his destination, but nothing seemed to turn up.

Just as he was about to give up hope, a voice called from the other side of the block: "Slaves! That's right folks. Claim yours today. Very well skilled and obedient to the core. Claim yours today!" Draco's face became pale. He certainly hoped the man meant house elves and not…what Draco thought he meant. Suddenly it made sense: "Set me free by finding me on the seamen's shores." Maybe she was there.

Draco sprinted down the paved cement sidewalk and pushed his way through the crowd that was huddled around the man on the platform like children gathering around the reader to hear a story. "'Scuse me, excuse me. Will you please move!" He shouted determinedly at the dumb-witted muggles.

Just as he had finally made it to the front of the crowd, a woman close to him with carrot red hair and a small face called out, "Wait a minute. These aren't house-elves! These are pure human beings! What's the big idea, _sir_?"

"House-elves?" Draco mumbled. "So these people aren't muggles…"

"That's right, young fellow!" The man on the platform suddenly pointed to him. "We, here are all wizards and witches, I can assure you. No one can see this area around us 'cept for magical people. You must be one yourself, of course." Draco thought this wizard had gone mad or something. He did look drunk almost with his long, gray whisker goatee and his goggle eyes behind small rimmed spectacles.

"And what are they, then? Blood-thirsty savages?" The same red-haired woman cried, nodding towards a building with an open wall where lay in its place a long cage full of what looked like sickly monsters. Draco stared wide-eyed at it, then back to the man on the platform, making sure he wasn't still looking his way, but he was just nipping back at the woman.

--"Well, that's why we are starting them on galleons, Miss!"

As the woman rattled on, some people in the crowd were starting to follow her lead. Draco eyed some of the people to make sure they weren't looking his way, either, but just as likely they were all staring up at the long bearded man. So, Draco slipped back out of the crowd and found himself on the other side of the caged building. Inside he could see many woman, no men really, all with their eyes bloodshot and dark bags under them. Most of them, though were sitting up right, with their heads leaning on their kneecaps and their arms hugging their legs. He noticed that a lot of them were fairly skinny. On some of them, he could make out their bones and veins. It was almost disgusting that Draco actually felt kind of embarrassed to be there.

But someone in particular had caught his very eye. From what Draco could see through the shadowed cage, she had pale, thin, thin skin. And even though her hair was cut fairly short, he could still make out that she had red hair through the dirtiness of it. Her clothes were patched black like soot had caught onto it and she as well was leaning her head on her knees, but her arms weren't hugging her legs. Instead, they were bound behind her back.

Draco knew exactly who it was.

If the man with the goatee was planning to _actually_ sell these women, he could afford buying this small, red-headed one.

Draco continued staring at her, but she never looked up. He hesitated to say it, to say her name. He now realized that his throat was completely dry and his stomach was already filling with butterflies.

Some of the women were looking at him, but still she did not.

Suddenly he heard the man's voice across the cage sound, "We will begin the bidding at 5 galleons." Draco spotted two bulky men coming his way on the other side of the cage. He immediately ducked and ran down the back way back towards the crowd, making sure he wasn't seen and that he got back to the front of the gathering, just in case they picked her.

It only took five women before they came to her. She had stumbled onto the platform. She seemed very weak and her hands were still bound, while being held by her arms by a man they called "Roc". Her forehead had formed sweat beads upon it and her lips were tremendously dry and cracked, already starting to bleed. Draco suddenly realized he had 75 galleons in his pocket. If no one else wanted her, he would truly have her claimed for sure. He just had to save her from falling into the wrong arms.

"We begin the bidding for this young lass at ten galleons." Most of the other women weren't put at start for that. He suddenly became anxious, but he called on it, of course, anyway.

"Ten galleons. Anyone for twenty?"

Suddenly, another man with spiky black hair and beading black eyes put up his hand. He was pale and looked quite wealthy from the state of his dress. Draco wasn't giving up now. He raised his hand.

"Twenty galleons. Going for thirty."

The same man put up his hand once again. _Damn, damn, damn!_, Draco yelled in his head.

"Forty?" Draco just raised his hand all the same.

"Fifty?" The other man just did the same as Draco.

"Sixty?" Draco shot his fist in the air like he would for surely win it.

"Seventy?" The goateed man was really getting a kick out of this war for this young woman, Draco could tell. But the man did the same thing once more.

"Going for seventy-five!" That was just enough. Draco shot his hand in the air. He glanced over at the bound girl and noticed her staring wide eyed at him. She knew who he was, too. He could feel it in his heart.

"Going for eighty!…" Draco stared hard at the man, hoping he'd let it go, but his hand had slid up. _NO!_, Draco screamed in his head. But to Draco's surprise and those on the platform's surprise too, he put it back down.

"All right! Going once…Going twice…Sold to the young man in the front, here." Draco almost thought he was going to fall to his knees. He can't believe he'd done it.

He rushed up to the platform, asked for Roc to untie her from the rope, and lead her away from the crowd as the man with the goatee started on another woman with short blond hair and ghostly pale skin.

Draco didn't really know what to say to her as they walked onto the nearly deserted beach along side the harbor. He rested his cold hands inside of his pockets. A cool wind suddenly picked up and waves hit the shore and her bare feet.

"You got a cigarette?" was all she spoke. Her throat was raspy and dry, he noticed. Without caring he pulled one from his pocket and a lighter from the other.

"Thanks," she said, as she lit up the cigarette.

"Sure," was all he could mutter.

"No, I mean thanks for freeing me…" Draco turned towards her. She wasn't looking his way though, but instead looking at the tall ships pulling into the big dock.

"…What were they during to you? I mean--you know--why were they holding you captive?"

She just shrugged her shoulder.

"Just a bunch of bastards, they are. Not even realizing what's revolving around their fat heads anymore."

Unless it was just himself, but Draco thought he noticed a change in this woman's attitude, the way she spoke to him. _What's your deal?_, Draco wanted to say these words, but instead he just said, "Oh."

They continued walking along the shoreline on the wet sand as she continued puffing smoke from the fag. Draco felt awkward from the strange silence.

"You keep my photograph?"

Draco was surprised at these words. "How'd you know about that?"

"Maroe told me."

"H-How'd you know about him?"

She sighed at these point. Dropping the cigarette in the sand and miraculously putting it out with her bare foot, she stopped and faced Draco, but barely looked him in the eyes. Draco thought maybe she was too embarrassed by the soot around her eyes and how bloodshot they were. "While your little eyes were glued to the photograph of you and me on the hill of Hogwarts in your last year, a little bird came to my side and told me you were doing this. I wanted to write something to you, but didn't have anything, until I found a piece of parchment in my side pocket from my diary that I had ripped out just in case I needed to desperately write something down that popped into my head. And I had a muggle pencil stored away in my stocking 'cause I still had my school uniform on. I wrote the exact words on that piece of parchment: 'Draco, I set you free by teaching you to love. Now set me free by finding me on the seaman's shores.' See, I heard the men saying that they were going to sell us in a town near the harbor, so I attached the note to Maroe's leg and he took it to you. Three hours…we were at the harbor. They put us in this smelly cage and took our shoes and stockings and our robes. …I noticed how surprised you were when he started at ten galleons. I know, I was sort of too…" She stopped short here. She didn't have to go any further, though. He knew she was abused, raped. He changed the subject, though it didn't really seem to help.

"Why were you so covered in dirt?"

"Slavery, Draco… Nothing but seeing us in their control, doing their fucking work." Her lip was quivering at this point and Draco could see her eyes swelling up with tears.

"But…"

"Why didn't you just go back there and save us, Draco!?" She screamed.

"What?"

"You knew the school was going to burn. You knew! Your father had been planning it all along and you let it slip away without actually slipping it out of your mouth! You knew what horrible, horrible things would happen! You knew, Draco! Dammit, you knew!" Crying gasps escaped from her mouth and she rubbed her eyes as to try the tears, though she could not. "Everybody was screaming, Draco! The boys, they killed them all! Then they took all of us girls to be slaves to rotten wealthy men. Even those who had parents and had a home. Don't you realize it, Draco? You were _my_ only hope! My brothers Bill and Charlie are dead! Fred and George are dead. And Ron is somewhere in the world, having his fun with his little prissy fiancé, Granger. I had no one else. And you know my parents are gone all 'cause of your fucking father and his all mighty wonder, Voldemort! You know damn well that I'm pissed, Draco! I am. I'm thankful you freed me, but I am dead alone!"

Draco just stared in shock at her as she cried, staring now at the last ship leaving the harbor. He couldn't believe it. "So the school's gone? That's it?" were the only stupid words that came out of his mouth.

"Yes, Draco! Of course it's gone! It's _all_ gone! The school, the quidditch pitch, Hagrid's hut, they even set oil on the surface of the lake and burned that too, so the creatures below could not escape or be freed. You don't understand how fuckin' scared I was, Draco! You don't! I saw my damned life flashing before my eyes…and you were a part of it." More sobs were coming from her. He so long desired to hold her again, even now, when she needed someone most, but his mind just seemed to be holding him back.

His mother's voice suddenly echoed in his mind like wind rushing through his ears and out. _"It doesn't matter what color your skin is, how think your blood is, how you dress, or how quick you think, as long as someone is by your side to make you be that person every morning you wake."_

…But his mind held him back no longer. Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around someone he thought he'd never fall for, but in fact had fell for her learning. She was the one who thought him everything. And love _is_ everything of life. And to Draco's surprise she held on back, tightly and warmly. He soon could see the flashing images of his and her life together back in his seventh year in the sky across the gulf and out onto the sea.

"Come home, Ginny," he whispered in her small ear. "Come away with me…"

And to that, they never looked back at the platform nor the beach. They just walked together, shoulder to shoulder, his arm wrapped around her once more like before, as they approached his car, seated themselves inside, and took off back for the empty manor with naught but Maroe waiting back at it in his cage.


End file.
